a happy day

Today was a happy day because these two got married.



This is my great Uncle Jerry (he's my grandma's brother) and his new wife Halene. She's fabulous and I'm so happy for both of them. Jerry has lived in Vegas for almost 10 years and has been at countless Sunday dinners and family events so we've got to spend quite a bit of time with him in the last decade.

Both Jerry & Halene both lost a spouse in the last few years so it's nice to see them so happy with each other. It's got to be pretty lonely when you find yourself all alone after being with someone for 50+ years. They were married today for time in the Las Vegas temple. It was nice to be at the temple. Wes and I even managed to go a little early to do some temple work. What a peaceful place in a crazy world.

My parents had a luncheon after the wedding at their house to celebrate the big day. It was a perfect January day in the desert. The sun was shining. It was warm for a January day. Which made it a perfect afternoon outside in the backyard.



I got to spend time with my sisters today just chatting . . . which I always enjoy.



And here's a picture of the original Marz clan . . .pre-husbands & kiddos.

We want to keep the fun-unique-creative small businesses IN business. So help!

I recently read about this on my sister's blog. Apparently there is a law that could put a lot of really creative folks out of business because of testing laws or something like that. You can read more about it here on how to help {scroll down a few posts}! I LOVE etsy and will be very sad if I can't go find fun and unique things on there because of a lamo law. So do your part and help!

sundays are rough. real rough.

We thought that changing from 1pm church to 9am church would really make a difference with Nate. Not so much. He must sense that it's Sunday from the minute he wakes up because he's
G R U M P Y almost every Sunday. Not just a little grumpy. A lot grumpy. Now, I'm crossing my fingers that nursery will make a difference at least while we're at church. ONE MORE Sunday and he's in nursery!

We had about one hour of today that was pleasant (other than when he took a nap). It was when we took Nate for a walk on his new bike and then let him run in the driveway.





Nate absolutely loves his bike. A few weeks ago, Nate's friend Chase was nice enough to share his bike while we were at the park and Nate loved it so much that I had to get it for him. And I haven't regretted it for one minute. He LOVES it. He's already a little too daring . . . standing up on the pedals and riding without hands.

Cross your fingers that this Sunday naughty-ness is only a phase. A short phase.

i heart saturday afternoons

doggies

If you were to describe the ideal neighbor . . . it would be my next door neighbors. They rock. Nate loves them because they have 3 little dogs that are so cute with Nate. Every time we go outside, Nate walks around their house looking for the doggies. Then he says "woof woof" to try to get them to hear him.

When the dogs come out to play, Nate usually sits on the ground while all three dogs kiss him to death. He absolutely loves having Hugo (the one pictured above) chase him around the driveway.

Nate is going to be my child that BEGS for a dog one day. So I'm glad he gets to play with the neighbors dogs because the chance of Nate having a dog of his own is slim-to-none. While I do like little dogs . . . I don't want to have to take care of one so I'm glad the neighbors opted for dogs instead of kids. It works well for me right now!

an almost-complete-college-roommate reunion

I've talked about my college roomies quite a bit on the ol' blog. It's because they are such fabulous friends and I wish we could all get together more often. We lived together for FOUR years at BYU so we have endless memories that keep us laughing when we're together.



We managed to get 3/4 of us together this weekend! Laurel P. and her new hubby Ryan came to visit Trisha's family and my family. It was fun to not only see Laurel P. but also get to spend some time getting to know Ryan, too.

On Saturday afternoon, we managed to get some girl time. Trish, Laurel & I chatted over delicious gelatto and then got manicures. The perfect girl-time activity if you ask me.



The plan was to get all 6 of us together for dinner, kid free. It almost worked. Where are Lindsay & Wes, you ask? I'm taking the picture and Wes is at home. Our babysitter never showed up and it was too late for Wes to jump in the car and drive across town with Nate so we had a yummy mexican dinner without him.

Somehow, this was Laurel's first time meeting Nate. Unfortunately he was not on his best behavior (I like to blame the top two "fangs" and a big molar that are cutting through his poor gums) but maybe next time she can see the happy Nate!

Thanks Laurel & Ryan for coming! It was GREAT to see you guys and the Waldrons.

The weekend would have been complete if this cute family would have been here, too.

But they live in NYC so that just wasn't do-able. I'm hoping this summer we can get ALL of us together. We missed ya Laurel & Brad!

our harmonica player

My mom introduced Nate to a few instruments last night and the harmonica is by far his new favorite toy. I'm going to keep it in his car seat because he likes to play along to the radio. He even does a little dance sometimes while playing, but of course I couldn't capture that on camera.

{sorry if this video makes you sick. We were driving and the sun was very bright in the background so I wasn't very steady. }

Just my Luck. Right when I start weight watchers again a temptation moves in to the neighborhood.

We go to Cafe Rio pretty much every Friday night. It's very close to our house and it's YUMMY. The problem? My favorite custard joint, Nielsen's Frozen Custard, just opened right next door. Of course they'd do this to me the week I decide to start following weight watchers again. It's a weekly temptation. I gave in tonight & had a cone of delicious vanilla custard. (which is significantly less points than the brownie/coconut/carmel concrete that I used to get).

Hooray to yummy food. And hooray to weight watchers to help regulate the yummy not-so-good-for-you food intake.

dear daddy ~

I'm really glad that you got more responsibility at work but I miss you now that you spend a few days in the California office every week. Mama is fun and all but I miss my goofy dad. I've been playing in my sandbox, going to the park, running errands & hanging out with grandma while you've been gone. I hope you're having fun sleeping in, eating out & going to movies.

Mama & I miss you. Can't wait till you get home tomorrow night.

Love,
Nate

Nate at {17} months

Nate turned 17 months this week so here's what my crazy little BOY has been up to . . .



He is finding his words, which is so FUN. I love to hear him repeat things you say. His latest words are hot dog, groger (grover), juice, costco, shoes, church, dirt, toot, poop & geeze. I must say geeze a lot because that's a favorite of his. My favorite is when he wakes up in the morning and he starts saying all of the words he knows to his doggy that is in his bed. He thinks talking is pretty cool.

He walks around the house saying "wooooooooow" with some serious personality. It makes me smile every time. He also puts anything on his head and says "aahh. ahh. ahh. choo!" and flings it off his head. His grandma G. taught him that.

He absolutely loves hats. But that's a post of it's own. He's got quite a few that he wears all day.



His two favorite things in life are: binky & blanky. We're working on getting rid of the binky during the day.

He is such a climber! I turn my back for one minute and he has climbed on or is standing on something. I'm surprised we haven't had any serious injuries because he is fearless. I kept the "ring of joy" out because he walks around it and plays with it. Now, it's a jungle gym.




My once food lover has become a little picky. I think it's because he's getting so many molars at once and his gums are sensitive. We've reverted back to jars of baby food throughout the day to get him some nutrients!

He's my fearless dude. He loves to be thrown in the air. The higher the better.

He still loves to be outside. We spend a lot of time playing with rocks, dirt, in the sand box & at the park.




He hates his socks and shoes. He'd much rather be barefoot. I don't blame him. However, he loves to wear my shoes around the house.

He's pretty much running everywhere.

He is obsessed with airplanes, motorcycles and the garbage man. When Grandma G. was here, we were outside when the garbage man came and she carried Nate around the block so he could see him over and over. He now knows the sound of the garbage man and bangs on the front door when he hears him outside of our house. We always go out and wave hello. Luckily we have a sweet garbage man who honks his horn for Nate and waves multiple times. He loves it.

He loves to make a mess. And every once in a while, we let him.




He loves to vacuum. One day this will come in handy.

He absolutely LOVES stuffed animals. They are his all-time favorite thing. He gives them hugs & kisses all day. He also likes to feed them and give them drinks. Doggie got a gummy bear this go-around.

We are really enjoying this stage . . . the happy, the naughty, the tantrums, the smiles. All of it. Nate is such a fun little dude and we're so glad he's in our family.

{I just noticed that in almost every one of these pictures, Nate is in pajamas or some mix-matched outfit. I do dress him in clothes most of the time!}

in 2009 i'd like to . . .

I love new beginnings. Fresh starts. A chance to start over. Which is why I love the beginning of a new year. It gives me a chance to try again at all the things I want to do. It also gives me a time to reflect on the last year.

In 2008, these were some of the things I wanted to accomplish:

Get my entire house organized & keep it organized. Cook & Bake. Learn a little about photography & photo shop. Lose Weight. Go Green. Spend more time with my sisters. Read & Study my Scriptures. Go to the temple more often. Do more for myself. Spend more time with just Wes. Be the best mom and wife I can be.

Lets see . . .the house was completely organized at some point & I lost my "nate weight" only to gain a little back. I cooked and baked slightly more often than usual. Photography & Photoshop are staying on the list for 2009 because I didn't do anything with them. I'm green-er than I've ever been but still have a lot of room for improvement. And the scripture reading and temple attendance? Always need for improvement there. I did, however, manage to find time for me and time with just Wes. Two things that I've learned I NEED in this crazy life of mine. Overall, 2008 was GREAT.

This year, a few of the things on my "to-do" list are:

• Be more creative. I have lots of fun projects to try and lots of things to make. I just need to sit down and do it.
• Make sure we're prepared. Have a supply of food and water in my home & more money in the savings account for a rainy day.
• Read the Ensign. Inspiration from my church leaders comes in my mailbox every month in the form of a magazine and I need to be better about reading it.
• Get in shape. It's not just losing weight this year. It's getting my body back in good shape!
• Adopt the "less is more" theory. I have a lot of stuff & I am ready to minimalize it. DI here I come.
• Be a good mama. I'm learning that patience is a virtue I must develop quickly with my little BOY.
• Continue to travel . . . hopefully some place historic this year.
• To sit still. I have a real problem with this. I'm always doing something. I'm going to sit down a little more and enjoy the moment.
• Drink Water. I really struggle with this because I'd much prefer a diet coke with a lime. But water is good for the body so I'm going to add it to the diet.
• And the left-overs from 2008 include: cooking & baking, photography, photoshop, the temple, scriptures, time with sisters, stay organized.

Happy New Year!

a visit from grandma and grandpa G

Since we couldn't make it to Georgia to be with all of the Griffeths for Christmas . . . Wes' parents came here for New Years so we didn't feel too left out.



It was great to have them here. We did a lot of relaxing, hanging out, watching football Bowl Games, playing games, taking Nate on walks and to the park, a few house projects & eating!

Some park photos . . .



nate loves the slide . . .





nate also loved the monkey bars with dad and grandma g ...


An afternoon at Town Square . . .

Nate LOVES his grandma and grandpa G. Grandparents are the absolute best! He got quite a kick out of Doreen. She sang endless songs to him, whispered stories in his ear, let him sing in her hand microphone in the car, played in the tub . . . they pretty much kept him entertained for three straight days and he LOVED it all. He laughed so much that he even came up with this new laugh that he does. It's hilarious. I'm trying to get it on video.

singing in grandma's microphone . . .

While Wes & Robert built us a cover for our sandbox we had some fun in our driveway, too.

Nate loves to be thrown in the air. The higher the better.

Nate signed "more" for three days straight.

Thanks for coming, Robert & Doreen. It was great to spend some time with you guys! Nate definitely wishes you were here instead of being stuck with boring ol' mom & dad, again!